The State Pension Fund

Retirement and Pension 

The Mount Vema State Pension Fund (MVSPF) is an institution of the Crown of the State. The entity is responsible for the management of the country’s pension fund, which is available to all members of the Mount Vema Society depending on the record of individual ISN contributions.
​Within the Mount Vema society, a person may retire at whatever age they please. However, based on the old-age pension rules of the Kingdom of Mount Vema 65 is the retirement age. The point where a person stops employment completely.
What You Will Get
The full State Pension is currently 122.55 golles per week. The actual amount you get depends on the record of your ISN contributions.
The only reasons the amount can be higher are if:
  • you have over a certain amount of Additional State Pension
  • you defer (delay) taking your State Pension
You can still get a State Pension if you have other income like a personal pension or a workplace pension.
You will be expected pay tax on your State Pension.

How It’s Paid
The Mount Vema State Pension is paid every 4 weeks into an account of your choice.
You’re paid in arrears (for the last 4 weeks, not the coming 4 weeks).

Pensioners Living Abroad
There are different rules if you live abroad.
Your first payment - You should get your first payment within 5 weeks of reaching State Pension age.
Example
If you reach State Pension age on Monday 1 September, your payment day is a Friday.
You’ll get paid: on Friday 5 September (for 1 to 5 September) - every 4 weeks on a Friday, after that.

How To Claim
You will not get your new State Pension automatically - you have to claim it.
You should get a letter no later than 2 months before you reach State Pension age, telling you what to do.
If you do not get an invitation letter, you can still make a claim.
There are 3 ways to claim:
1-Online (here)
2-Over the phone (here) (note: you must register your telephone number online before you call)
3-In Person (In Mount Vema or at the nearest consular office of the Kingdom of Mount Vema) - You must fill out the relevant application form.

If You Want To Keep Working
You can claim your new State Pension even if you carry on working. However, you have the option to defer which can increase the amount you get.

How It's Calculated
What you’ll receive is based on your ISN record.
Your starting amount will be the higher of either:
The amount you would get under the State Pension rules (which includes basic State Pension and Additional State Pension).
If your starting amount is less than the full State Pension
You can get more State Pension by adding more qualifying years to your ISN. You can do this until you reach the full State Pension amount or reach State Pension age - whichever is first.
Each qualifying year on your ISN record will add about 3.50 a week to your State Pension. The exact amount you get is calculated by dividing 122.55 by 35 and then multiplying by the number of qualifying years.

If you did not make ISN contributions get credits
Your State Pension will be calculated entirely under the State Pension rules.
You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your ISN record to get any State Pension.

You’ll need 35 qualifying years to get the full State Pension
You’ll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years.
Example
You have 20 qualifying years on your ISN.
You will need to divide 122.55 by 35 and then multiply by 20.

Annual Increases
The State Pension increases each year by whichever is the highest:
earnings – the average percentage growth in wages (within the economy of Mount Vema)
prices – the percentage growth in prices in Mount Vema as measured or to be measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 2.00%
If you have a protected payment, it increases each year in line with the CPI.

State Pension Statement
You can get a State Pension statement that can tell you how much State Pension you may get.

Public Sector
Check if you are contracted out, if you are contracted out to worked in the public sector, for example:
the MVHS, the district councils or projects, fire services, the civil service, teaching, police forces, or the armed forces.
You will be paying ISN at a lower rate if you are contracted out.

Your ISN record and your State Pension
Your State Pension is based on your ISN record when you reach State Pension age.
You’ll usually need to have 10 qualifying years on your ISN record to get State Pension.

Qualifying Years If You’re Working
When you’re working you pay ISN and get a qualifying year if:
you’re employed and earning over 150 a week from one employer
you’re self-employed and paying ISN contributions
You might not pay ISN contributions because you’re earning less than 150 a week. You may still get a qualifying year if you earn between 100 and 150 golles a week from one employer.

Qualifying Years If You’re Not Working
You may get ISN credits if you cannot work - for example because of illness or disability, or if you’re a carer or you’re unemployed.
For example, you can get ISN credits if you:
claim other types of state benefits and allowances. 

You’re Not Working or Getting ISN Credits
You might be able to pay voluntary ISN contributions if you’re not in one of these groups but want to increase your State Pension amount.

Gaps in your ISN record
You can have gaps in your ISN record and still get the full State Pension.
You can get a State Pension statement which will tell you how much State Pension you may get. You can then apply for an ISN statement from HMVM Revenue Services to check if your record has gaps.
If you have gaps in your ISN record that would prevent you from getting the full State Pension, you may be able to:
  • get ISN credits
  • make voluntary ISN contributions

Inheriting or increasing State Pension from a spouse or civil partner
You might be able to inherit an extra payment on top of your State Pension if you’re widowed.
You will not be able to inherit anything if you remarry or form a civil partnership.

Inheriting Additional State Pension
You might inherit part of your deceased partner’s Additional State Pension
It will be paid with your State Pension.
Inheriting a protected payment

Living and Working Overseas
If you live or work in another country, you might be able to contribute towards that country’s State Pension scheme.
If you’ve lived or worked in another country in the past, you might be eligible for that country’s state pension and a Mount Vema State Pension.
To check if you can pay into or receive another country’s state pension, contact the pension service for that country.

Claiming another country’s state pension
Depending on where you’ve lived or worked, you may need to make more than one pension claim.
You need to claim your pension from each country separately.
Check with the pension service for the country where you’ve lived or worked to find out how to make a claim.
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Your Mount Vema State Pension will be based on your ISN record.
You need 10 years of ISN contributions to be eligible for the Mount Vema State Pension.

What is the ISN - Learn More
A person may also semi-retire at the age of 65 by reducing work hours, or apply to become a member of the Council of Senior Community Advisers. Retirees may choose to live in retirement homes, or with family members in any part of the world they wish to retire and still receive their pension. CSCA - Council of Senior Community Advisers - The CSCA was set up by the Monarch of Mount Vema - The Vema Seamount Authority in 2007 to assist active retired members of the community who wish to provide volunteering services and advise in their area of expertise to active members of the community, especially in areas such as teaching, supporting midwives, foreign aid, the Red Cross, the church, and international development activities.  If you do not wish to join the CSCA, you do not have to stop working when you reach State Pension age but you’ll no longer have to pay towards your social security ISN. You can also request flexible working arrangements.